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Artificial divisions within the SLN Mar 2004
The Battle of Farley's Crossing Mar 2004
<em>Gauntlet</em>'s weapons fit Mar 2004
Erewhon and the inertial compensator Apr 2004
Battleship and SD(P) comparisons Apr 2004
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Grav pulse comm post <em>Ashes of Victory</em> Apr 2004
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Pearls of Weber

A collection of posts by David Weber containing background information for his stories, collected and generously made available Joe Buckley.

Asymmetrical broadsides

  • Series: Honorverse
  • Date: October 22, 2002

Why Are Starships Symmetrical? The question of why ships aren't designed with separate broadsides optimized for different types of combat -- that is, missile-range combat as opposed to energy-range combat -- has emerged once again. Do you want to comment on this one at all?

 

Symmetrical Broadsides. No, I don't want to comment on this. I've done it before, and the statements I made then still apply. Indeed, they've become even more relevant in an era in which broadside missile tubes are becoming less and less significant for major combatants and the need for missile defenses has never been greater. Asymmetrical broadsides would be a bad idea.